Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Plus ca change....

Amazing isn’t it? The Government abolishes Advantage West Midlands and the Government Office of the West Midlands and the word “regional” is more or less banned from the civil service vocabulary. So what happens?

The Department for Business opens a regional office; the Department for Transport sets up a regional unit; the Department for Communities and Local Government sets up a regional office to process applications for EU funding; the Department for Business plans a “sub national” Coaching for Growth business support programme; a changed regional international trade operation is introduced; the Skills Funding Agency keeps its regional structure; the Cabinet Office keeps a regional structure for emergencies from floods to terrorism; the Home Office encourages police forces to collaborate to save costs; and the Environment Agency keeps its regional structure to deal with flooding.